Board-rule



E. ANDREWS.

BOA-RD RULE.

Patented Oct. 30, 1888.

(No Model.)

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BOARDm-RULE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,091, dated October30, 1888.

Application tiled June 20, 1887. Serial No. 241,865. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, EMANUEL ANDREWS, a citizen of the United States,residing at V1lliamsport, in the county o1' Lycoming and State ofPennsylvania, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements inBoard-Rules; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear,and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates` to an improvement upon theinvention described inLetters Patent No. 265,782, granted to me October l0, 1882, and has forits object the production of a boardmeasure which can be folded, andwhich shall be more convenient to handle, better adapted for outdooruse, and more efficient in general; and the novelty consists in thepeculiar construction of the vrule and in a hand-hold attached to thesame, all as will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved board-rule and its attachments,broken out at the center; Fig. 2, a detail showing how the two sectionsof the rule are jointed and the sleeve for locking them together at thejoint; Fig. 3, a detail, in perspective, of the handhold; and Fig. 4, aperspective View of a p0rtion of the blade.

My improved rule is composed of a handle, A, of some non-conductingmaterial, preferably of wood,and a spring-metal body,B, preferably ofuniform width throughout, from the end which enters the handle to theend which is secured to the head @,and is substantially like my otherrule, with the exception of certain changes in the body B, hereinafterexplained. This rule is divided, as usual, into three longitudinalspaces for different lengths of boards, (in this instance twelve,fourteen, and sixteen feet,) and with crosslines and figures denotingthe number of feet in the board with a certain width. Heretofore thesefigures and crosslines were in black, and were sunk below anickel-plated surface having a dull finish; but when the rule was usedin sunlight it was found to be too glaring and injurious to the eye. Soto overcome this objection I make the rule with raised niekel-platedfigures and cr0ss' lines upon a dark or black surface of lacquer or anyother waterproof material, which not only prevents rust, but dulls thesurface of the rule, so as to prevent any more glare than is caused by avarnished wooden rule.

The body B of the rule, instead of being made in one piece, is made intwo sections, a and a', lapped at the meeting ends and loosely jointedand held together by a pin or rivet, b, at the center, so that the rulecan be folded and packed in a VSatchel or in a smaller space thanheretofore. lt is very necessary that a rule made in this way should belocked at the ioint as securely and firmly as possible to throw off thestrain at that point when the rule is used in a bent position, and forthis purpose I employ asliding sleeve, D, that can be easily moved overthe joint and back again when de- I sired. This sleeve is made frommetal to nicely vt the body B, and is divided into longitudinal spaces,and has gures and cross-lines to form a continuous scale of measurement,together with the spaces, figures, and lines on the surface of the rule.

To insure perfect continuity of the scale of measurement and to preventthe sleeve from being slipped beyond the joint, l provide the transverseedge of this sleeve next to the handle A with a tongue, d, which, whenthe sleeve is moved up to cover the joint, comes into contact with theoverlapping end of the section et of the rule, and thus locks the sleeveat a proper point against further forward movement. This tongue d ismade, preferably, by slitting the edge of the sleeve at two points andbending down the intermediate piece of metal; but it may be a separatepiece of metal secured thereto, or it may be a detent of some otherform.

Eisahand-holdor additional handle, made, preferably, from leather, andadapted to be moved along the rule between the handle A and the sleeveD. This movable handle enables the user to take hold of the rule withouteomingin contact with the metal,and is of much service in preventing thearm from becoming tired when sorting lumber and in measuring lumber whenstanding below the pile. The two meeting edges of this leather handlemayIOO be removably secured together in any suitable way; but for betterconvenience of removal and for better security I prefer to leave theseedges open and to secure the handle on the rule by means of rubber bandsE E', so as to be easily put on and taken off.

This rule can be used both as a board-rule and a log-rule by marking oneside with the log-scale and the other side with the boardscale.

The raised igures and the cross-lines of the scale on a dark orlacquered surface and the removable leather handle are not to be connedto a rule made with a joint, neither is thejoint to be confined toametal rule; and it must also be understood that the removable andadjust` able handle could be made of some other flexible materialbesides leather.

It must be further understood that the rule itself may be made of wood,whether jointed or notjointed, provided that either the raised tiguresor the removable leather handle are used, without departing from thespirit of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. A jointed board-rule made in two parts, overlapping each other at themeetingpoint and there pivoted together, and provided with a slidingsleeve having a dependent ange at one of its ends adapted to strikeagainst the end of one of the parts of the rule, whereby the sleevecovers the joint and locks the rule when both parts are in the saineline of direction.

2. In a board-rule, the combination of the handle A, jointed metallicblade B, and end C, substantially as set forth.

3. In a board-rule, the combination of the handle A, jointed blade B,metallic end C, sliding locking-sleeve D,and removable leathernhand-hold E, substantially as set forth.

4. In a board-rule, the combination, with ythe blade provided withnickel-plated or light figures on a dark background, of a slidingsleeve,also provided with figures,substantially as shown and described.

5. As a new and improved article of manufacture, ajointed board-ruleprovided with a handle, a jointed blade and an end, said blade beingprovided with raised nickel-plated or light figures and cross-lines on adark nonreecting Water-proof background, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

EMANUEL ANDREWS.

Witnesses:

GHAs. MELHORN, G. D. SLOATMAN.

